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Praise the Lord, O my soul; O Lord my God, Z48

Introduction

The copyist of the Gostling manuscript, which contains Praise the Lord, O my soul, adds at the end of the work ‘Composed by Mr. Hen. Purcell – 1687’. It is not known for what occasion the anthem was written, but it is one of only four anthems which are known to date from that year. 1687 was the first formal year of James II’s newly established Catholic chape, consequently there were fewer occasions at the Anglican Chapel Royal when Purcell would have been required to write a major new anthem with strings.

Praise the Lord is a fine anthem which begins with another of Purcell’s excellent Symphonies (scored only for two violins and continuo – there is no viola line). The opening is wistful, with the violins’ desolate lines underpinned by a bass line which descends to the richest reaches of the bass violins. The second, triple-time section dances in lighter vein, but behind the surface jollity is still the melancholy which permeates so much of Purcell’s best writing. The opening vocal section is yet another tour de force written, presumably, for the bass John Gostling. Purcell’s setting of a colourful text from the Psalms proclaims God’s majesty, testing the furthest extremes of Gostling’s voice in splendidly characterful writing. After a short instrumental ritornello a second, high tenor, voice enters and joins the bass in more gentle writing for ‘He bringeth forth grass for the cattle’: for the ‘wine that maketh glad the heart of man’ Purcell’s music becomes more lively and syncopated. The continuo line for the tenor solo ‘He appointed the moon for certain seasons’ is an intriguing four-bar, constantly modulating ostinato over which the singer weaves an elegant line.

The mid-point of the anthem, ‘O Lord, how manifold are thy works’, is hushed and reverent, set first for the soloists and then repeated by the choir, after which the opening Symphony is repeated again. The two soloists return at ‘The earth is full of thy riches’ and a short instrumental ritornello leads to the remarkable ‘When thou hidest thy face they are troubled’: Purcell’s setting of ‘when thou takest away their breath they die’ is wonderfully poised. Once again the lilting triple metre returns, broken by the stately ‘The glorious majesty of the Lord shall endure for ever’ before the choir return with their awestruck praise of God’s works.

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Praise the Lord, O my soul; O Lord my God, thou art become exceeding glorious, thou art clothed with majesty and honour. Thou deckest thyself with light as it were with a garment, and spreadest out the heavens like a curtain. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters, and maketh the clouds his chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind. He laid the foundations of the earth that it never should move at any time. Thou cover’dst it with the deep like as with a garment; the waters stand in the hills. At thy rebuke they flee; at the voice of thy thunder they are afraid. They go up as high as the hills and down to the valleys beneath, even to the place which thou hast appointed for them. He bringeth forth grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men, That he may bring food out of the earth, and wine that maketh glad the heart of man. He appointed the moon for certain seasons, and the sun knoweth his going down. He made darkness that it may be night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do move. O Lord, how manifold are thy works; in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches. So is the great and wide sea also wherein are things creeping innumerable both great and small beasts. These all wait upon thee that thou mayest give them meat in due season. When thou givest it them, they gather it, and when thou openest thine hand they are filled with good. When thou hidest thy face they are troubled; when thou takest away their breath they die and are turned again to their dust. When thou lettest thy breath go forth they shall be made, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. The glorious majesty of the Lord shall endure for ever. The Lord shall rejoice in his works. O Lord, how manifold are thy works; in wisdom hast thou made them all.